Saturday, 25 January 2014

Day 16: More research, more snow

What went well?

Woke up to an invite to an Art Initiation run by the Penn Art Appreciation Society:

For two weeks, PAAS has been preparing the very first meeting of her new members. During this 45-minute session, we wish to usher you into the world of great art and endow you with as much as art knowledge as we possibly can. Submerged in a relaxing atmosphere with music and tea, we will settle in an art salon and talk about what we see in two interesting paintings. Then we will gather in the Academia of Art in nineteenth century Paris to learn an important and pleasurable painting style. In the next 10 minutes, we will turn through the pages of Art History 101 and 102, travel across time and space to witness all major art movements from ancient times all the way to the contemporary.

It was meant to be tomorrow, but got postponed due to snow - still, am really looking forward to it when it happens!

Managed to sort through all the journal articles I downloaded for relevance & topics they address.

But I am tearing my hair out at the moment trying to find "the gap." There's actually been so much written on this topic (how modern day mindfulness relates to Buddhism - I have over 60 potential references), it'll be a challenge to find out what original contribution I can make to the discussion...

What did I learn?

When in doubt, wear snow-appropriate boots. I made the horrible mistake of wearing my runners to the gym (novel idea, right?), even while aware that it had been snowing all day and there was slush and snow all over the ground. Plus, these runners are the kind with "ventilation" in the bottom. So I worked out with completely soaked shoes. At least they dried in no time on top of the heating grill in my room.

The definition of mindfulness is a highly contested topic. No psychological operationalisation can really capture everything it embodies.

2 comments:

Hey Jessie! :D I've been thoroughly stalking this blog over the past few days and just wanna say, you have fully ignited my desire to go on exchange! I found the parts where you drew comparison between UniMelb and UPenn especially interesting and really liked how you shared your technique of doing things, such as using a pros and cons table to make decisions (it's actually so useful haha) and applying the research matrix. It'd be really cool to hear more about the dorm life and also the campus and students there.

UPenn was my dream university when I applied for US admissions last year and I actually got an interview from it, so I'm really looking forward to your future blogs! I'll have tones to ask you when you come back to Melbourne :D

Andy, thanks so much for your comment! Yay, I'm so glad you're finding my ramblings somewhat interesting/useful. I'll keep your interests in mind for future postings :) Feel free to use me as a resource and ask me questions, and of course I'm happy to meet up once I'm back :)

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What's this blog about?

Hi! I'm Jessie, in my final year of my BA (Psychology) at the University of Melbourne. But before I finish up there, I'm heading off on exchange at the University of Pennsylvania (hence the name of the blog - Daily Pennings, haha) for a semester. So there are two main reasons why this blog exists: For others, and for myself.This blog exists so that my friends and family can see what I'm up to if they're curious. I also hope that it can serve as a resource for other students who are considering an exchange (or a degree) at Penn, in terms of the culture of the school and the US, and the practicalities of being abroad.Essentially, though, this blog will serve as a public journal. I plan to spend just 10 minutes at the end of each day writing a quick, simple summary of the day, including highlights and something I learned. This way, it'll be an accurate reflection of what actually happened on exchange, and it will also encourage me to reflect daily, which to me is important for self-awareness and living consciously, and therefore making the most of the exchange (and life), hopefully.If you find anything here interesting or useful, or if you're curious about anything, please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you! :)

About Me

I am motivated by the potential for psychological research to generate rigorous, reproducible insights on human flourishing. My research interests fall broadly within two themes: (1) the processes that link personality with well-being, in the moment and across the lifespan, and (2) the motivating effects of moral emotions (e.g., gratitude, compassion, elevation) on prosocial behaviours.